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Stress is an ancient superpower 
that is slowly killing you.

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It evolved as one of the most powerful 
tools for survival but has turned into

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a double edged sword in the modern world.

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It grants your wish to rise to a gnarly challenge

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or to work harder – but claims a 
chunk of your life force in return.

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Unless you learn how to use it right.

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What is stress, why is it harmful and what 
can you do to escape its consequences?

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All living things strive for homeostasis, 
a state where their body is in balance.

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To maintain this balance they make adjustments 
like moving into the sunlight or eating nutrients.

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But the world is a cruel place 
with death lurking behind every

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corner and organisms need a way 
to react to extreme situations.

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This is how stress evolved – as a physical

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response to a stressor – which is 
anything challenging or dangerous.

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Stress is a very fast, drastic change of the 
state of the body that prioritizes survival.

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An emergency program that lets the organism 
push way out of its comfort zone to survive.

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To understand how stress works in humans, 
let's visit a scene fifty thousand years ago…

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The Superpower Awakens

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A group of early homo sapiens are huddled 
around a fire – when suddenly a desperate

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and starving sabertooth tiger attacks their camp.

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Their leader, Urr the Bearsmasher 
jumps up as time slows down.

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His brain classifies the tiger as a critical 
stressor and unleashes the stress response.

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Adrenal glands pump out adrenaline that rushes

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through Urr’s body activating 
“fight or flight” mode.

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His heart starts beating faster and 
his lungs accelerate, providing an

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emergency supply of nutrients and 
oxygen to all critical systems.

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Adrenaline dictates that his muscles 
have energy priority over his other

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organs and activates them for rapid action 
– their strength and speed are ramped up.

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Pain and fatigue signals are muted,

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while his senses become super 
sharp and lock in on the threat.

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Urr perceives every detail with maximum clarity 
and realizes the tiger is getting ready to pounce!

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There is only a split second to react.

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Adrenaline forces Urr to make 
a quick, impulsive decision:

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Without thinking about it he chooses 
to fight and attacks with full force.

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But the battle is long and arduous – the animal

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is desperate and will not back 
down, our humans risk exhaustion.

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A new hormone joins the battle:

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cortisol.

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Cortisol is the slower, more strategic 
hormone that manages a longer stress response.

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It orders a total shift of all body systems.

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Ramping up the fuel supply while suppressing 
all non-essential functions like resting,

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disease defense or digestion.

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Urr's body isn’t his own 
anymore, it belongs to stress.

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Finally Urr the Bearsmasher 
deals the killing blow.

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The tribe gathers in celebration.

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Their bodies shut down “fight or 
flight” and activate “rest and digest”.

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Wounds begin to hurt and 
muscles cry in exhaustion.

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It is time to recover and heal, bond and tell 
stories about how they killed the angry tiger god.

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Some fall asleep, others eat to replenish.

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The tribe relaxes and 
homeostasis is being restored.

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These people are your ancestors.

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When did this amazing 
superpower turn into a curse?

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The Deadly Email

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Our world has changed so quickly and 
profoundly that our biology couldn’t keep up.

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Stress is still the same it 
was fifty thousand years ago:

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Sense a stressor.

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React immediately and with full force.

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Prioritize present moment survival, 
make sacrifices if necessary.

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That works well when you have 
to jump out of the way of a car.

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But most stressors we encounter nowadays 
are abstract, acute and more numerous,

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often intangible, persist for much longer and 
usually don’t even require physical action.

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The tigers of the past are 
now angry emails, deadlines,

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online dating, rush hour traffic or doom 
scrolling the news and social media.

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But our brains are built to 
take fear very seriously,

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so if you experience even a short 
burst of anxiety over an email or

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because you scrolled through twitter, the 
helping hand of stress springs to action.

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You can have dozens of these micro stressors per 
day constantly activating your stress response,

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even if you barely notice anymore.

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While these micro-threats stack up we also have to

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deal with bigger stressors like unpaid 
overtime, angry clients, rising rents,

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inflation and healthcare or tariffs and 
chaos making our future more uncertain.

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But the boost we get from stress 
can also be extremely helpful if

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you have to study for an exam, run a 
marathon or complete a big project.

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It is a proper superpower and can 
feel exhilarating, even addictive.

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So many of us end up abusing it.

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Especially if you work in a competitive 
field you may keep pushing and challenging

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yourselves and others, relying on stress 
to get your best performance possible.

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The problem is that stress 
was only ever intended to

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be used in short spurts and critical situations.

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If it is activated over days, 
weeks and months with no release,

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it becomes chronic stress, one of 
the deadliest conditions for humans.

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How Chronic Stress Destroys You

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The price of chronic stress is the slow 
destruction of every part of your body and brain.

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As the stress cascade is activated over and over, 
adrenaline and cortisol keep flooding your body.

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Your „fight or flight“ systems are 
overactivated while your „rest and

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digest“ functions are constantly suppressed.

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Your muscles tense up for a fight 
that never comes – instead your back,

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shoulders and neck scream under the 
tension and you get pounding headaches.

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Your digestive tract cramps and suffers, either 
holding things in too long or rushing things out.

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Your fat metabolism is disrupted and 
starts slowing down fat breakdown,

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while increasing fat build up in your belly area.

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Your cells become less responsive to insulin 
increasing your risk of metabolic diseases.

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Your heart keeps pounding, eager to 
supply your body with fuel but your

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blood vessels aren’t built for this constant 
overactivation and get destroyed in the process,

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massively increasing your risk 
of a heart attack or stroke.

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Your immune system gets weaker 
and stronger at the same time,

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in a way that causes maximum damage to you.

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The parts that protect you 
from disease are suppressed

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because who cares about a cold 
if you have to fight a tiger?

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This increases your risk of infections, 
cancer and autoimmune diseases.

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Meanwhile cells that cause inflammation 
for wound healing are massively boosted,

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inflaming your tissue all over.

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Your brain gets rewired to serve stress.

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Perceiving an ongoing critical emergency 
it slows down calm reflection and thinking.

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Instead favoring quick and rapid reactions.

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You literally get worse at thinking 
clearly and lose wisdom points.

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You are much more likely to make bad, 
impulsive decisions like breaking up,

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eating junk food, or using drugs.

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You become worse at solving your 
problems while creating new ones.

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Under chronic stress you are 
simply a worse version of yourself.

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If this persists your memory 
and cognitive abilities get

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worse as you slide into anxiety and depression.

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So your chances of getting out 
of a stressful situation in the

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modern world worsen the longer 
you are chronically stressed.

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A hellish, vicious circle.

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If you can’t escape it, odds are that you may 
die earlier and suffer greatly along the way.

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How to use Stress As Intended

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Stress can be your friend.

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In measured doses, acute stress enables you 
to conquer mountains and push beyond your

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comfort zone, helps you to improve 
your skills and grow as a person.

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And it can make it feel amazing 
to perform at your very best.

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But to get the good without the bad,

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it’s critical that you properly wind down 
your flight or flight response and relax.

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Listen to your body.

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If you feel stressed, you are stressed, full stop.

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There is no universal threshold you have to reach 
before you’re allowed to do something about it.

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Next, ask yourself:

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Is your stress response productive in your 
situation and is there an end in sight?

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If you are studying for exams or 
moving house stress is a superpower,

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helping you unlock your full potential.

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But your health needs breaks 
from “fight or flight” mode.

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Be it meeting friends, working 
out or going for a walk in nature.

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Relaxation is not being lazy, 
this is serious self care.

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If you relax actively and regularly 
you will keep stress from claiming a

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price on your body and mind and 
still be able to use its power.

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If you can’t do this at the moment, plan 
active relaxation time as soon as you can.

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Without this stressing you out.

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Ok, but what if you suffer 
from constant unhelpful stress?

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You can’t control your body’s stress 
response, but you can influence it.

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As annoying as this is:

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mindfulness, like meditation or yoga, 
is scientifically proven to take the

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edge off stressful situations and to tell your 
brain that this email is not a deadly tiger.

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But the single most effective way to remove stress 
from your life, is to remove the stressor itself.

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Become your own personal assistant and assess

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where tiny bursts of stress are 
coming from during your day.

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Do you feel stressed when you doom scroll?

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Social media doesn’t show us what 
we want, but what makes us engage.

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And negative emotions make us engage the most.

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So simply getting rid of the apps 
or unfollowing stressful people can

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actually remove a lot of stress from your life.

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Especially with the really big problems, 
removing the stressor is extremely effective.

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If you live in a dangerous neighborhood:

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move.

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If you are bullied at school:

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see if you can change your environment.

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While this is drastic advice and may not be easy,

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it will have the biggest impact 
on your chronic stress levels.

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So think about what you 
can change in the mid term.

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Of course there are situations 
where you can’t just eliminate

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the stressor or meditate the chronic stress away.

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If your brain is stuck in stress mode for too long 
it will get worse and worse at solving problems.

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You may not be able to think clearly 
to get out of your situation.

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In these cases the most powerful 
move is to ask for help.

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Open up to friends or family 
or get professional help.

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An extra pair of hands can make a huge difference.

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In the end, life will throw stressors 
your way, this is unavoidable.

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And that’s ok.

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Stress is your superpower.

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Use it.

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But never forget to get to the other side of it.

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That’s why we created a Health Journal.

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We’ve collected all the latest health 
science and designed a framework to help

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you figure out what actually works for 
your life – without pressure or guilt.

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If you want to reduce stress, start 
with the Rest & Mental Health chapter.

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Or dive into Nutrition or Physical Fitness.

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Each chapter is packed with 
real science, lots of examples,

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and inspiration to get you started – but you can 
make it completely your own to fit your needs.

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In the end, you’ll have built a 
custom health mix that works for you.

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We also made it as beautiful and fun as possible

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(as taking care of your health should always be).

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And you’re not doing this alone!

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We’ll check in from time to time, 
and we’d love to hear from you:

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share your progress and inspire 
other birbs on their health journey.

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After the Gratitude Journal and the Habit Journal,

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this is the third part in our 
bestselling journal series.

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To kick-start your health journey, we’ve also 
created some exclusive Health Club Merch for you.

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Wear them as companions to 
remind you of your goal.

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Just give yourself one month.

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Try it.

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See where it takes you.